We Just Watched the Moana Live-Action Premier at SM Lanang Premier and We Loved it!

We just watched the Moana live-action film at SM Lanang and without spoiling the movie too much for those who haven’t watched the 2016 original animated film and want to watch this live action version one, I’m just gonna say this: it’s really good!

If you’ve watched the original 2016 animated film, you’ll find this movie as a near perfect, faithful reimagining of that film. I mean they made some changes here and there but for the most part, everything is there which is great.

Lyle was able to truly enjoy the film. His eyes were glued to the screen every second of the film.

I’m glad they used Polynesian actors? To portray the roles in the movie instead of whitewashing or blackwashing (is that a thing?) the entire thing like some of the more recent movies that came out portraying animated films as real live action movies.

I’m all for being socially and politically correct but sometimes, I also just want to be entertained.

And Moana did just that.

The Rock, although I was a bit apprehensive as to how he’d look like onscreen as Maui was A-ok… it looked like he was wearing a body suit to look a bit more rounded like his animated counterpart.

Kudoz to the Rock almost emulating the entire dialogue and style of delivery that he did when he voice acted Maui.

I guess that’s what really sold me. Not to say that the Rock isn’t enjoyable onscreen as an actor. I hate to admit it but whenever he has a movie, I’m bound to watch it despite him not being on the top of my list as actors worth watching.

Catherine Laga’aia as Moana was perfect. She had the look down and moved gracefully onscreen the way Moana did. Although I did wish to see Auli’I Cravalho onscreen, I was happy to see that she had taken on a producer role instead.

So yeah, with the success of this film, she and the Rock will be well rewarded for playing two of the most memorable animated characters enjoyed by children of all ages all over the world. Children and adults. Or children and those who are children at heart.

We were also looking forward to Tamatoa (the giant fab crab) and his song “Shiny” and we were glad that it was still the same actor, Jemaine Clement, who sang it. We sang along to the song and enjoyed every second of it.

Last but not least… Hei Hei and Pua… those two characters still cracked us up. Even more for Hei Hei who was given a more prominent presence onscreen based probably on his earlier success in the previous films.

It’s a Family Film. Watch it with Your Family.

Moana has always been a special film for us as a family. Lyle loved it from an early age and every chance we get, we watch it together.

For me this film is perfect as it features characters of Polynesian descent.

We’ve memorized the songs and it’s one of our go to Spotify playlists on the road. Original soundtrack and renditions from other artists and all that.

Moana is a family film. You should watch it with your family. If not your immediate family, the people you surround yourself with whom you consider family.

Moana’s journey symbolizes family every step of the way. From her motivation to restore the heart of Te Fiti to save her people on the island of Motonui, to her interactions with her dad and grandma, to her loyalty to her friends, every step of the way shows the value of family.

To us as a family, Moana is one of the things that we can all relate to regardless of age.

So yeah, when I first got the invite, I tried to make sure I included my family because it would just feel wrong and empty to watch it on my own even though I’d be with my Blogger family, the Davao Bloggers Society.

It’s a movie I’d love to discuss in the car with my wife and son as we go home from the cinema and not one where I just tell them what I saw onscreen.

And as we were going home, Lyle was talking about the movie nonstop which is a clear indicator that this film will go over well with children of all ages.

One Funny Thing Happened

When I first got the news that I was included in the list of lucky bloggers to attend, I was ecstatic.

The next thin on my mind was to ask if I could bring my son and wife along since I wanted to share the experience with them and hopefully write an awesome blog post based on how they reacted to the movie.

Luckily, I was able to secure another ticket from a fellow Davao Bloggers Society member/officer who said she’d gladly give up her slot for my son.

I should’ve been able to get another one because there was another one who was gracious enough to offer his tickets but then we were told that the list of names had been sent.

So… yeah that meant, only Lyle and I’d be able to go.

My wife would miss out on what was, is, supposed to be a family event while I also get some work done with the job I liked which was blogging/writing.

I had to find a way.

I couldn’t let her miss out on this.

But I also couldn’t break the society’s rules.

Like Moana, I was also facing a very difficult, near-impossible-to-achieve task but instead of restoring Te Fiti’s heart, my task was to get a free ticket for my wife.

Like my dad used to say, “ you move mountains for your family”

And mountains I had to move on that day…

So, as I was wondering what I’d have to do, maybe find a scalper or something, I landed on an FB post by Monster Radio.

Now I’m not one of those lucky people who wins contests but I had to try my luck on this one.

So, I entered a radio contest.

All I had to do was tag 2 friends and share the post.

I did that and moved on not giving it that much thought.

My wife and I also talked about her not being able to watch the movie and although we were both sad, we were also glad that at least Lyle’d be able to watch it alongside me.

We accepted the fact that sometimes you just don’t get the things you want in life.

And then my phone went off.

I was able to see a quick notification that it was coming from Monster Radio.

I had won 3 tickets! – (I’ll have to blog about that more on Musikawabad.

I tried giving the extra tickets away since I only needed one more as a way of paying it forward but had no luck. So I had extra tickets in my pocket that night.

I wonder if I should put them in a frame or something since I don’t usually win these types of contests….

So yeah, sometimes, your luck pays off.

If you want to relive the magical experience of Moana but in a live-action setting, I highly recommend watching Moana. Heck, I recommend this film over a lot of movies based on animated films.

I’d like to thank Disney Studios Philippines (@disneystudiosph) for the free invites.

And also Monster Radio for the extra tickets that I won.

#MoanaPH #DavaoBloggers #DBSTheBest You guys made our day as a family!